Margurite Duras L'amant

The life of Margurite Duras was one of intrigue, controversy, violence and emotion. She cemented her place in France's literary history well before the publication of L'Amant, which was written towards the end of her harsh life. L'Amant delves into the deepest fears, desires and experiences of a fifteen year old girl, which without a doubt has a profound influence over the rest of her life and her view of the world and the people in it. In 1992, Jean-Jacques Annaud brought Duras' novel to the big screen and to critical acclaim. I believe it is a masterpiece of cinematic beauty and brings the harshness, violence and emotion of L'Amant to life, for all to see in infinite detail. This essay will look at the important elements of the book and the film, the similarities and differences and finally the overall success of the adaptation.

In my opinion, the central focus of the book is the juxtaposition between conflicting emotions; essentially between love and hate and the emotions which steam from these, such as desire and fear. The young girl is a personification of all of these elements and at some point throughout the novel, one by one these emotions take control as she attempts to understand her life and make the progression from childhood to adulthood in unforgiving circumstances. Her Chinese lover comes to represent fear; fear that he will lose his young lover, fear that she will never truly love him, fear at his father's and society's perception of their love, fear of life after her. Her family represent hate and the physical manifestation of this emotion, violence is another strong theme in the book.

The young girl desires love. She wants to be loved by her family, accepted by society. Knowing that she can have neither, I believe that when she meets her Chinese lover for the first time on the boat to Saigon, she does not see him for his money, rather for the love that she is so desperately seeking. The crossing of the river, a symbol of her leaving her previous life of violence and hatred, has the power to completely change the direction of her life and give her what she is seeking. It is only later, when her family and society condemn her for her "shocking behaviour" (101 eng) that she begins to think of this relationship as a profitable venture.

The theme of death is also extremely prevalent and important in the book. The young girl talks often of wanting to kill her brother, to inflict the level of pain that he has inflicted on the rest of the family. There is an important juxtaposition between her brother, Pierre and her. While she is terrified of him, he is terrified of her. Death is also an important factor in the relationship between the young girl and her lover. Their relationship changes dramatically when they are in the company of her family. She convinces her family that she is with him solely for his money and her lover knows this and begins to treat her